May Volunteer Network Roundup!

Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 54 events in May, serving 14,722 individual beneficiaries and giving out 21,224 meals!

Additional GO Humanity Service Teams held 10 more service events.

Year, to date, that makes:

344 total team events
78,170 individual known beneficiaries served
79,293 meals/kits distributed

New Food Security Project Team

GO Team Neighborhood Fridge has joined the Food Security Project. This means we’ll start sending them monthly grants for their decentralized network of 24/7 community fridges and pantries!

Photo of the Month: Michigan Humanists

Photo of the Month comes from Michigan Humanists. It depicts their Long Lake workday, during which they spruced up a cabin campground and prepare it for summer use!

24 people removed leaves and pine needles from roofs from 20 buildings, stained walls, inspected cabins, fixed windowsill, cut large trees downed by winter weather into firewood, and rounded up brush for a wood chipper crew.

Team of the Month: The Food Drive

The Food Drive in Melrose, MA describes their May as “EVENT-FUL,” with 175 food rescues!

Now that The Food Drive has been rescuing food in their community for over two years, more local events are reaching out with their surplus food! In May alone, the team rescued burritos and fixings from a Teacher Appreciation Lunch at an elementary school (delivered by the superhero above!), pasta and salad from the high school band banquet, snacks and waters from a middle school dance, appetizers and treats from two office parties, and fruit and beverages from a Mother’s Day 5K. All this went to three food pantries and two motel shelters.

CORMII Community Development Corporation

This team in Rockingham County, North Carolina meets every Thursday to hold a curbside food distribution.

Central Florida Mutual Aid

Volunteers rescued 250 pounds of surplus produce from a local farmer at a farmer’s market and delivered it to a Title 1 school, where it was distributed to the families of food-insecure students. They did the same for Harbor House, a shelter for women and families that have experienced domestic violence.

Atheists United

This team held their monthly food giveaway in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown. Groceries were collected, transported, sorted, packed, and distributed to anyone who needed them. They provided 159 households with food kits, diapers, menstrual products, and pet food.

Humanists of West Florida

This team based in Pensacola met twice to distribute 96 bags of non-perishable food to unhoused people. They did this at a local plaza where people gather for a hot meal provided by Food Not Bombs. Other organizations were present with clothing, toiletries, and to arrange health care.

They also raised $360 for their work at two fundraiser events!

Chania Primary School

This team in rural Kenya is responsible for a partner-driven meal program delivering a daily warm meal for every student. They served over 14,000 meals to more than 700 vulnerable kids in May with support from our Food Security Project.

Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix (HSGP)

This active Arizona team…

Held Secular Week of Action digital donation drives to buy hygiene supplies, including tampons for unsheltered people
Acted as “personal shoppers” at a Project Humanities distribution of clothing to 150-200 adults
Maintained and stocked their Little Free Pantry
Fed neighbors with breakfast leftovers from one of their events
Crocheted plarn sleeping mats for people experiencing homelessness
Pitched in at the bi-monthly giveaways held by Atheists Helping the Homeless Phoenix, including helping the team move into a new storage unit. One of HSGP’s members—a retired health care provider—took blood pressures, treated a few small wounds, and encouraged those who needed it to seek additional care.

CAFE Food Rescue

This team in Summit County, CO distributed 3,828 pounds of food rescued from landfills, including 13,486 granola bars. They also benefitted from a Locals Appreciation Party fundraiser.

Austin Atheists Helping the Homeless (AHH)

Once a month, volunteers from this team hit up various Austin, TX locales to distribute aid to those experiencing homelessness. In May, they packed 260 care bags in their storage space and gave it out the next day.

To celebrate Mother’s Day, the team brought flowers for anyone wanted them. The team also had lots of donations of shoes, clothes, books and more. 10 gallons of ice cold Kool-Aid went fast on this hot and humid day.

Kenya Humanist Alliance

This team in rural Kenya is farming maize, casava, sweet potatoes, and bananas. The crops are doing well despite flooding from heavy rainfalls. By July, they expect to feed more than 150 people—mostly orphans, widowers, and widows who live in poverty.

Kenya Humanist Alliance also donated sifted maize flour to families of orphans, as rising maize prices have made the flour unaffordable for many families.

SociologyEats!

SociologyEats! is part of the sociology department at Texas A&M. In May, they distributed $600 in cash to students who requested help with food and living expenses.

Olouguelemo

This team in Mali helps their community become resilient to drought and food shortages. May’s activities consisted of constructing half-moons to catch runoff water and grow grass. The work was carried out over 10 days with the participation of 15 people per day.

Central Ohio United Non-Theists (COUNT)

COUNT volunteers worked their ongoing monthly shifts at The Ronald McDonald House, which provides housing and meals for families with sick children. COUNT volunteers have contributed 2,012 hours to RMH since 2013.

COUNT also served dinners and cleaned at the Van Buren Center shelter. 114 volunteers have worked 1,341.75 hours at 99 events at the Van Buren Center to date.

Blue Trunk Garden Network

This team in central Florida runs community gardens and shares the yields with community members in their network. In May, they ran community workshops on microgreens and herbalism preparation.

Next, they’ll work on herbal teas, tinctures, and other remedies to support mutual aid needs for the community.

Southeastern Virginia Atheists, Skeptics & Humanists (SEVASH)

SEVASH maintains two Little Free Pantries in the towns of Newport News and Norfolk. In May, 11 known volunteers contributed 583 pounds of food at a cost of $515. With funds from GO Humanity, they were better able to reimburse contributors and increase contribution levels.

Humanist Alliance Philippines International (HAPI)

HAPI has chapters all over the Philippines. Here’s what they were up to in May:

Teaching 13 kids how to make a healthy salad after they harvested lettuce from HAPI’s hydroponics garden (donated by GO Humanity). They all enjoyed their healthy snack before heading home with fresh tomatoes.
Teaching children about volunteering and having them pack 40 bags of groceries which were delivered to fire victims. The children were given spaghetti after.
A Menstrual Health and Hygiene Awareness program for mothers of adolescent girls who struggle to buy sanitary napkins. Attendees learned how to maintain proper feminine hygiene with minimal access to water and while living in unsanitary conditions. All this was done with assistance from a volunteer from the community health center and university nursing students. Attendees got kits of feminine items, soap, and food.

MOJELIPH

MOJELIPH helps vulnerable people in Cavaillon, Haiti get food. In May, they prepared dishes made with chicken, cocounut, tomatoes, rice, carrots, and spices and distributed them in tent camps for people living without homes.

Fanm Viktim

This team in Haiti organized a food distribution event to foster the spirit of love in their community. They made dishes of spaghetti, chicken, tomato, and spices funded with grants from GO Humanity’s Food Security Project.

On Mother’s Day, they held a party for mothers to eat with their children, and gave out gifts.

Atheists Helping the Homeless DC

Atheists Helping the Homeless, DC holds monthly distribution events to unsheltered people. In May, they gave out kits containing socks, a small flashlight, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and other hygiene items. Non-perishable food was also distributed including food in pouches and granola bars. Much donated clothing was distributed—mostly knitted items that do not need ironing after washing. Gently used jackets and shoes were also distributed.

Humanists of Tallahassee (HoT)

This Florida team met nine times in May to assemble and distribute snack/hygiene packs consisting of a granola bar, water, applesauce, pudding, peanut butter crackers, Vienna sausages, washcloth, soap, shampoo, deodorant, razor, toothbrush, toothpaste, period products, and socks.

As part of GO Humanity’s Disaster Resilience Project, HoT taught lessons to around 15 children in an elementary school in Florida’s poorest ZIP code (32304). They did a brief discussion on what a disaster is, how to prepare for it, what to do during one, and then packed small emergency kits for the children to take home. Each kit contained a bag for important documents and emergency numbers, first aid items, gloves, masks, a manual can opener, an emergency whistle, cleaning items, and playing cards to help bide the time until the electricity returns.

Finally, HoT worked with Food Not Bombs to host three community dinners.

Kasese Humanist School (KHS)

This Food Security Project team in Uganda maintains gardens which feed their community.

In May, KHS expanded some of their gardens and harvested tomatoes, garden eggs, and dodo. They’ve also been growing eggplants, okra, corn, mangoes, oranges, jackfruits, and more!

For Secular Week of Action, they provided fruit juices to children in homes around their community.

Atheists Helping the Homeless Phoenix (AHH Phoenix)

This team in Arizona does twice-monthly giveaways of essentials to people without homes. A RN provided blood pressure readings and wound care. One client had a scratched cornea, and the team got her eye drops and nasal spray to alleviate allergy symptoms that were exacerbating the eye issues.

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